Brothers advise aspiring producers

The IU Cinema sponsored a lecture featuring director Chris Farah and his brother, producer Mike Farah, on Monday. The duo, two leading contributors to the website Funny Or Die, met for an informal discussion about their careers, the movie industry and what it takes to pursue a career goal.

“Mike Farah is a producer with expertise in both feature film and new media,” IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers said. “He’s also an Indiana University alumnus.”
The two were joined on stage by producer Anna Wenger, who has worked closely with Mike Farah on various projects.

Wenger said her path to becoming a producer began when she worked as a nanny for a couple in the entertainment business while attending college at UCLA.

“In Los Angeles, when someone can afford to have a UCLA college student be their nanny, they tend to be working in the entertainment business,” she said. “I asked one of them for a job and became a production assistant.”

The open conversation centered on the topic of youthful aspirations and following the dreams that many film students at IU have.

“What I continue to see is many college graduates working in internships that want to be producers,” Chris Farah said. “But when you ask them what that means, they have no idea.”

Chris Farah said he believes there are many “producers” in Hollywood but that Wenger is one of the few true producers he has worked with.

“If you work hard as a producer, and people know you’re good, the best directors are going to want to work with you,” Wenger said.

Farah said anyone starting out in film should agree to as many things as possible and do as good a job as possible.

“It is not enough to show up,” he said. “You have to stand out and be good at what you’re doing.”